


Late Night Encounters

by HappyLeech



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Late night talks, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-10 22:33:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13511136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HappyLeech/pseuds/HappyLeech
Summary: Lucretia takes a walk





	Late Night Encounters

Lucretia couldn’t think of what cycle her insomnia started, but she did know that despite keeping long hours it plagued her nearly every night. Her guards learned quickly that there was nothing to be worried about if Madam Director exited her quarters to roam the base in the middle of the night, and left her be with few questions. With everyone else keeping mostly regular hours, Lucretia was free to wander as she liked without questions being asked, from the library to the brig to—well, she couldn’t go into the Fantasy Costco at quarter past two but she could linger outside of it.

That was why she was so startled to see a man standing in the grassy quad at the start of her walk, his head tilted back as if he was looking up at the stars through the dome. Lucretia didn’t recognize him.

“Hello?” She walked closer, taking in his appearance despite the darkness around them. Dark skin, dark hair, a crisp black suit. And no bracer. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

He turned at her voice, and for a moment Lucretia could have sworn that his eyes glowed red. “Lovely night, isn’t it?” he said in some strange accent, a smile on his face.

Lucretia adjusted her grip on her staff. She should call for someone, her guards were technically hired to deal with threats to her and the base, and the unknown man certainly qualified as a threat. But she hadn’t make it as far as she had without being able to hold her own, so they went uncalled. Lucretia could handle one man. “Who are you? How did you get up here?”

The man’s smile disappeared. “Taako said you go by Madam Director, but your name is Lucretia, correct? My name is Kravitz, and I have a few questions for you.”

Lucretia scowled. She loved Taako, she always would love her eccentric Elven brother, but how could he bring a one night stand up to their very secret moon base? She would prefer him late for morning training because he got a hotel room on the ground over this. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to come with me. Taako should have known better than this, bringing unauthorized persons up with him. I’ll have to speak to Avi as well…” She was going to have to keep the man, Kravitz, in the brig with Robbie until she had the time to properly erase the concept of a moon base and probably Taako as well from Kravitz’s memories. Then there was the issue about tightening security, talking to Avi and Taako, reminding everyone else not to bring their dates to the base unless they were part of the Bureau already…

Kravitz laughed and shook his head. “Oh, Taako didn’t bring me. I brought myself, so I’d prefer you don’t reprimand him. Now, I have some business with you—according to my records you have died a total of seven times, is that correct?”

In a flash, the relatively handsome man in front of her seemed to melt away, leaving a skeleton with glowing red eyes standing in his place. A reaper. The reaper who went after Taako and Magnus and Merle over Candlenights.

“I won’t let you take my people,” Lucretia said instead, cycling through the spells she knows for something to use. The image of Merle with a new wooden arm popped to mind, something she won’t let happen again, but what could she cast to fight a reaper? “We’re doing good work here.”

For a moment, Lucretia got the impression that if Kravitz still had his skin on, he’d be giving her a quizzical look. He pulled a book out of thin air, flipping it open as though he was checking something. “I don’t—no, Magnus and Merle and Taako are safe. Their bounties have been put on hold, you could say. I’m here to talk to you, not them. You and—” there was a soft buzz and Kravitz pulled a stone of farspeech out from under his shirt. “Yes?”

“You comin’ back, bubbeleh?” Taako’s voice, thick with sleep came from the other end, and Kravitz looked to the side, almost embarrassed.

“In a moment. I just had to deal with a quick work thing that popped up. I shan’t be more than ten minutes, love,” he said, before tucking the stone away. Not before Lucretia heard Taako go ‘ _I fucking hate that work accent_ ’ from the other end, though, and she raised one eyebrow. He was a reaper, she could safely assume he could see better in the dark than she could. Was he using Taako to get to her? No, Taako would see through that in a heartbeat. “I—look, can I just talk to you about your deaths? I can’t really abide by you folks not checking into the Astral Plane, but the Raven Queen does understand that you are working to stop…irregularities like what happened in Refuge from happening again.”

Lucretia winced. Sure, Taako, Magnus, and Merle had added eleven deaths to their total death count, but the people of Refuge had lost years, died thousands of times because of them. It made sense that the Raven Queen would want assurance that it wouldn’t happen again.

“Yes. We’ve collected and destroyed five relics already, and our seekers have an idea of where the sixth relic is located.”

He hummed, flipping to the back of his book and making a note. “Which one it that?”

Barry’s creation, probably the one relic other than the chalice that would aggravate the Raven Queen more. “The Animus Bell.”

Kravitz scowled, writing something down then circling it. “You managed to find it? You wouldn’t be willing to tell me where so I can take care of it now, instead of waiting for you to gather it up?” He sighed as Lucretia shook her head. “Thought so. Now, can I have it on some kind of authority that the next time you die will be the final time? I don’t know how you’ve managed to keep coming back, but I would prefer if you’d stop.”

“I’ll…do my best. Baring any outside interference, I promise that the next time I die will be it.” Lucretia held out her hand for him to shake, and Kravitz reached out before seemingly thinking twice. “Is something wrong?”

He laughed, a lighter chuckle than before. “I’ve heard from sources that it’s better if I put myself back together first before shaking your hand,” he said even as he seemed to fill out. “You wouldn’t happen to know the whereabouts of a Gnome named…Davenport, would you? Three deaths, which is better than yours, but still unacceptable.”

“I speak for Davenport. He isn’t…” This time they did shake, and Lucretia tried to stop herself from involuntarily shivering when their hands touched. Kravitz was cold, which she supposed made sense. “Due to an incident, I speak for Davenport. He won’t be leaving the headquarters, so you have my assurance that his deaths will not grow. The most danger he’ll be in is of a papercut.”

Kravitz stared at her for a moment, and Lucretia fought the urge to fidget. She didn’t fidget, she was the Director! If anything, she was the one who made people nervous. Finally he nodded, writing a few more lines in his book before snapping it shut and sending it away.

“If I may ask, Lucretia…when I confronted Taako about his deaths, he told me he didn’t remember anything and seemed confused by the entire thing. You, on the other hand, don’t seem phased. Do you know something about why you lot keep racking up deaths?”

“I—” she swallowed, a lump in her throat. “Yes, but I can’t discuss it at the moment.” He started to object, but Lucretia stopped him. “If I tell you now, it can prove dire. It may even result in the Bureau being unable to retrieve the Animus Bell. All I can do is ask that you trust me…and don’t mention this talk to Taako.”

Kravitz sighed. “Fine. So long as I find out what happened eventually. Goodnight, Madam Director.”

“Good night, Kravitz. Please don’t keep Taako up too late, he does have training in the morning and he’s been late more often than not.”

Leaving the reaper squawking inelegantly behind her, Lucretia headed back to her quarters. She could feel sleep sneaking up on her for once, and she got the feeling that she was going to need all of the sleep she could get in the coming months.

**Author's Note:**

> A friend asked for Lucretia fic, so here is fic 1 of 2, Isa :P I really just wanted to write Lucretia talking to Kravitz so...I did
> 
> * * *
> 
> [Personal Tumblr](http://happyleech.tumblr.com/)


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